Westvleteren 12

Brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Westvleteren, Belgium

Poured black color with a good head, dissipated to a cover over the top of beer. The aroma I detected in this one was of a brandy aroma which was alright. With the high alcohol content of this beer I was thinking before I tasted the beer, alcohol would be the flavor. Not the case, alcohol content wasn’t the dominate flavor in this beer. Smooth on the palate and an enjoyable beer.

Smells like a chocolate chip cookie - nice. Dark brown-red color. Light a first, then a bigger malt taste laced with chocolate and nut flavors. Long profile and a great great balance.

12 oz bottle, purchased 2005, via BelgianShop.com. Pours a slightly cloudy dark brown color with a small creamy light brown head that settled to a thin film quickly. Lots of sediment in bottle. Very deep wonderfully complex nose, dark candied fruits, yeast, alcohol, raisins, over-ripe cherries, and a ton of sweet malt. Flavor matches the depth of the aroma very well. First impression, huge sweet malts, tons of fruitiness, and a warming alcoholic and yeasty finish. A very good beer. It gained some further depth of flavor aspects as it neared room temperature. Mouthfeel is creamy and full-bodied with moderate carbonation. My only negative critique is that there was a little too much alcohol flavor in the finish. Not the best beer I’ve ever had though. I actually rated the 8 equal, and the Blonde just a tenth lower. Pretty impressive for a brewery when you consider I rated all three of their beers at 4.1 plus.

So here I am at rating #500. I’d been saving this great beer for the occassion, packed away in a secret place so it wouldn’t tempt me before now. When jercraigs invited a few of us over for tasting session, I figured that I would hit #500 that day, so I decided to bring this along to share the love. The question was: would this world-renowned beer reach our expectations? Colour is rich mahogany with a slight cloudiness and a prefect beige head. Aroma is full and appetizing with notes of sugar, raisins, molasses, cinnamon, plum pudding and gingerbread. Warm, full mouthfeel. The flavour is less complex than expected, but still remarkable in it’s balance and uniqueness, holding sweet fruity malts, worldly spices, and some hints of dark rye bread. In the end, it wasn’t the brain-expanding experience that we were half-expecting, but it is still a world class beer, and easily in my personal top ten.

Lives up to the #1 Ranking! Almost like an apple cider champagne! Too bad it was $11 for 11 ounces! Great colour and sediment!

Bottle courtesy of sk8viking. Thanks, Rene!! Pours a beautiful, oily golden-amber appearance; light head formation and lacing. Generous aroma, showing honey, maple syrup, dried fruits, and spice. Perhaps the most nuanced, complex mouthfeel of anything I can recall: plenty of sweetness, sure - honey most predominantly, followed by maple syrup and belgian sugars - but also impeccibly balanced: citrusy hoppiness, plenty of esters and dry yeastiness to compliment the mouthfeel; rich without being overripe, satisfying without being ridiculous. Mildly dry finish: yeast and spice. Simply a fantastic beer.

#1000 - I thought after 1000 I finally deserved to pop open one of these.. I think I got this one from my secret santa back in July, Mullman but I also got one I believe from alanc - Thanks guys! - Poured dark brown with a nice creamy tan head that stays very well and laces the sides of the trappist glass. Beautiful to behold in appearance. Aroma is beautiful as well. Nice notes of caramel, yeast, dark fruits, raisins, even a touch of chocolate. Very vinous and complex. This beer really shines on the palate with such a full bodied beer but a light soft moutfeel that seems to melt on your tongue.. Very pleasant to drink. Worthy of it’s stature of the best... Very close to perfect and a great choice for #1000!

Re-rate 8/14/02: Beats the Rochfort 10 head-to-head. The most complex beer you could hope for. Almost no trace of its high ABV. If there is a heaven, I know what's on tap. First rating: Stunning. It is a smooth feeling brown elixir that has a complex taste that is hard to pin down.